They may have finally done it, won the Fail Brigade West division, but it came with a defeat to the Minnetonka Timberwolves 34-10 as the away record this season again looks to be the Achilles’ heel of the Lions heading into the postseason and now there will be an serious concern with the offense after quarterback John Decaro suffered a hand injury, which may keep him out of the remainder of the regular season, and this may show the inevitable lack of depth that the Lions have put themselves in this season, running with Frank Wildermuth as backup, who hasn’t played a full game since 2023. Despite playing all bare the final play of the fourth quarter, some insiders have reported that the Lions will take a cautious approach with Decaro, now that the division title is wrapped up and they are secured in a postseason berth, but with some calculations still giving the Lions some hope of securing the conference’s #1 seed, will they take the punt and hope for glory, or play it safe and give Decaro at least a week off and hope he is ready for Week 16.

While unable to make public media appearances this season as part of the previous ban from comments made about league officials last season, Majority Team Owner Leam Mark Farrar, along with the ownership group issued a short statement following the confirmation of the divisional title for the Lions:-

“We are all pleased with the efforts of the entire playing group and coaching staff this season and are proud to be part of such an amazing franchise. Everyone, from our cleaning staff to the board, has worked long and hard over many seasons to be in this position and we are all thrilled that we can, for the first time since the 2025, call ourselves the Fail Brigade West Division Champions. It has been a collective effort from everyone over the last several seasons, all stemming from our internal report and the recommendations that came out of that. No matter what happens over the next two weeks, or even in the postseason, where our focus can become fighting each game and fighting for a championship trophy, that we can all be proud of the efforts put on the field each and every week. We are proud to be Lions today, because this season, we have roared the fiercest and we have made it back to the top of the division”

Speaking after the game, the talk was all about Decaro, with Head Coach Roy Rodriguez giving some sort of update on the condition of QB1 and how they may approach things heading into the final two games of the season:-

“Yeah, John’s a bit banged up. Took a nasty tumble on that last sack, wasn’t his finest moment, nor was that game our finest performance. We really stunk it up there, nothing too much else to say. We didn’t execute the gameplan properly, we didn’t manage to get into any sort of rhythm when it came to our offense, or even our defense. That final quarter was just a quarter you want to erase from the memory banks very quickly and move on from. The Timberwolves are a strong side, they showed it last season and despite their results this season, they have been still a strong side. We just failed to take appreciation into that and thought that we could roll them over, but they did the very same to us. John, along with the whole team, are hurting and of course, looking after his arm is going to be something we will need to address and work through this week. We will see how he pulls up over the course of the week before we make the final call as to whether he plays”

While Penrith have that decision to make, now that the division has been wrapped up and there is not much to work towards, unless they are hoping for a few last minute upsets that they might be able to swing into the #1 overall seed for the conference throughout the postseason, they might just opt to take a cautious approach with Decaro as they head off to face the 5-9 Harnosand Harbourmasters who have had a season to forget, but with four wins from their last seven games, and an offense that has struggled to score anything in the last three games, there might be some hope that the Lions can score some solid points and get some momentum heading into the postseason will be something that the Lions will really need, and with the average of 22.75 points per game over their last four games, this might be quite the hard task for the Harbourmasters to get themselves into the game. However, with many saying that the Lions were clear favourites to beat Minnetonka, and then to lose by 24 points, anything may be possible here.

If Penrith can put aside the defeat last week, and even just that final quarter, they will be in with a real chance of bouncing right back and taking another victory, being their eleventh of the season and thereby making this season the best record for the franchise since 2022, while the Harbourmasters are just looking to avoid another drop in a season that promised so much, but has failed to deliver, with an offense that has dropped in points again this season (176 points at this point last season, 144 so far this season), a large gap when it comes to passing yards per game so far (Lions are at 222.7 yards, Harnosand down at 155.6), it has been a year to forget almost for the Harbourmasters, but a win against a postseason-bound team, a team that is on the up and up, almost four years into a very long rebuild of the franchise, that has seen it’s fair share of struggles, could be the biggest thing for Harnosand this season, and would also give them three wins out of four against FB West teams this season, while the Lions are just looking to get a little better when it comes to the away record, which over the last two seasons stands at a lowly 5-7-1, 3-3 this season alone, and that is not pretty reading for a team that, while they will be hosting at least a wildcard matchup in two weeks at home, will most likely have to head away from home if they win that matchup.

Aside from the injury to Decaro, the Lions are not in any serious injury concerns, with the only issues being with fullback Ursula Cruz, with reports being that there won’t be any chance of Cruz making it back this season, with further reports this week being that the Lions will shut Cruz down for the season and focus on the rushing team of Jon Salas, David Haskins and Jerry Surge, with Pierre Bush still on the outer. The other injury from last week was with cornerback Clifton Massengale, who is likely out for the next two to three weeks with an ankle injury, however, in a sign of good news for the team, he has escaped serious injury and will likely return either in the wildcard game, or if the Lions make it, the divisional week of the postseason.

Prediction: Let’s get another win, make it the top season for us as we head into the postseason.

While the result wasn’t really what many wanted, the Lions didn’t seem to take it too personally, falling again to the Harnosand Harbourmasters in another low-scoring affair, something that the Lions have good use of, this time a score of only 7-3, with Penrith managing the first score, just after the first quarter with a lovely 46-yard field goals from Orlando Norris, who further extends his lead as the team’s best kicker in only his first season with the team, while the Harbourmasters had to fight for it all, every single drive, but managed to finally get one passed the Lions defence very late in the game and nab the victory, a 68-yard pass from quarterback Antonio Roulette to Ronald Martinez, and in the Lions final attempt, the Harbourmasters defence stood even stronger and forced a final drive fumble, but not before a tough three-and-out following the kickoff.

It wasn’t helped with the fact that earlier in the week quarterback John Decaro was ruled out with a hand injury, and the team rather keeping him on ice than risk further injury as they head into their first postseason game in three seasons in two weeks’ time. Backup quarterback Frank Wildermuth did his utmost best to try and limit the pain that could be caused, but himself running into some serious issues, being sacked six times, and while he was lucky not to be intercepted, or to get a touchdown, with the Lions managing an average of 20.92 yards per drive throughout the game, while Harnosand were down at only 14.14 yards per drive, but it was the defence that kept the Lions from suffering an even heavier defeat, forcing Harnosand into 11 straight punts before they gave up the touchdown, and even that drive lasted only 27 seconds.

Speaking after the game, Head Coach Roy Rodriguez was confident that a game result like that would not hinder the preparations for Week 16, nor would it be in the players’ minds when the postseason play begins:-

“Not really, we knew this would be a tough one, not having John on the field, who has done a great job all season, but we were better off planning for next week, trying to clean sweep the division and also looking towards the long-term, and that is our postseason chances. No matter who we play in the wildcard week, we need to be ready for them, and this sort of game, regardless of the result, is a game that shows us what we can achieve when we stick to the gameplan. We have a defence that pushed and pushed and didn’t give up until almost the very end of the game, we have an offense that can push forward, we just came up against a sort of brick wall today and couldn’t get ourselves through. We still have some things to work on and we will keep on working on them this week, and every week. It’s just one game, we have a bigger picture to look at”

That bigger picture is Week 16, and a chance for the Lions to achieve something that has only been achieved by seven other teams (Montevideo, Philly, Sumpan, Batman, Balsicas, Derry and Zena) and could be the fourth straight season of it happening at least once, and that is a clean sweep of divisional games, as Penrith take on the Compton Catastrophe in the final regular season game. With nothing to play for on the Compton side, this could be an opportunity for the Lions to write their names into the record books, regardless of what happens in the postseason. For Penrith, they still have the smallest of chances for something in the postseason. While they are secured in at least obtaining the #4 seed as a division winner, they could make a claim for the #3 seed, but need Les Republicains de Paris to lose to St Austell, while Penrith defeat Compton if that is to happen, which will most likely see the Lions as the #4 seed and facing off against Cheesy Philly (10-4-1) in the wildcard game.

However, postseason play is something that is not on most peoples’ minds this week, with the focus throughout training being on Compton, and a Catastrophe side that has gone from strength to strength this season, down on their luck last season, to now sitting with 8 wins and looking to spoil the party heading into the postseason, something that a few weeks ago, could have been a real possibility for the franchise. Now, following the next 60 minutes, they will be watching from home and whether that is cheering on the Lions, it’s anybody's guess. They are coming into the game off their own tough loss, a 12-7 defeat to Reykjavik who were lucky to come away with that one, but a lack of firepower on offense was Compton’s undoing. Over the last month, Compton have seen their average points down at 11.25, compared to the rest of the season at 14.09 points per game. Despite a strong 7 wins in their last ten games, the offense has dropped off with only three touchdowns in that time, compared to the 7 in the previous weeks, and while quarterback Justin Crabtree is over 2000 yards on the season, it’s been a downturn from 2028.

On the flip side of this, Penrith have been on the up and up this season, and with some saying that they have faced a softer sort of schedule than others, they have seen themselves get better over the season, scoring on average 18.26 points per game this season, and baring the Minnetonka game, even in defeat, the Lions have been close to scoring and taking the lead, or even the victory. The season has been a good improvement, across the board, and this has seen an uptick in the momentum and confidence that seems to be stemming throughout the franchise. Penrith have been top five this season when it comes to different stat lines on both sides of the ball such as passing yards per game (5th, 223.4 yards), pass attempts (5th, 39.6), interceptions per game (5th,1.3) and sacks (4th, 3.1), which has seen how the Lions have kept their own throughout the season and how this has turned into a positive step towards a better position for the franchise to be in for years to come.

If Penrith are going to win, they need to put the last two weeks behind them, put it right out of their mind and get back into the mindset of it being one game at a time, something that the team have been focussed on all season. They need to ignore the storylines, ignore the fact that they are a division winner this season, ignore that they are going to be playing at least one more week this season, and just focus solely on this game against Compton. If Compton can take advantage of these facts, that the Lions may think more about postseason, rather than this game, then they could spoil the party for the Lions.

Penrith will be buoyed by the return of John Decaro this week but will be without both safety Miguel Logan and cornerback Clifton Massengale for likely the remainder of the games that the Lions will play this season, while defensive tackle Aaron James also looks to be done for the season with a neck injury, his second of the sorts in five seasons.

Prediction: Decaro is back, let’s go for a clean sweep of the division this season! Postseason is coming!!!

It may not have been the way they wanted to finish off the regular season, but the Lions finished off a solid regular season with a 10-6 record, despite a tough 10-8 loss to the Compton Catastrophe, but it still equals the best regular season record for Penrith in franchise history, even with the loss of being able to clean sweep the division, the Lions still were able to manage to nab a home final, at least, and in a strange twist of fate, the victory by Compton as well as their victory over Nottingham in Week 4 has put them into the final postseason berth over the Arrows.

Penrith had the chances throughout the whole game to put it away and give themselves the clean sweep, taking an 8-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but a final quarter blitz by the Catastrophe all but sealed the game, including a 9-yard touchdown with only 41 seconds left in the game to take the lead. Penrith had the chance to make it a come-from-behind victory but a fumble by rookie running back David Haskins all but sealed the victory. It was even worse news on the fumble with Haskins suffering a broken hand in the play, that essentially forced the fumble. He will sadly miss the wildcard game and was despondent at the end of the game when he knew that his chance to play in the postseason this time around was all but over.

Speaking after the game, Head Coach Roy Rodriguez, who this week also was confirmed to have received an additional year on his contract as Head Coach, was confident that the Lions could ignore the last three losses and move on to focussing on the wildcard game:-

“It’s not a good look, coming into the postseason, off the back of three losses, but we have been here before, and we know what we have to achieve. We have gotten through the first step, that being the sixteen regular season games that we have played, and we have done a lot of improvements over the whole season, and I know that the hard work begins again this week, it’s the next step that we will take together. The guys are confident that phase two, that being the postseason, is starting now. We will put this defeat, and every other game out of our mind and focus on one game at a time, because it’s win or go home now”

The Lions now have the wildcard game to focus on, their first postseason game in four seasons, and by winning the division, they get the right to host the match, with the opponents being Cheesy Philly. The Lions and Philly do have some history, having played four times now, however, the Lions are yet to win against them, and have seriously lacked the firepower on offense to muster anything on the scoreboard, while Philly have piled on the points. That being said, the last encounter back in 2028 was only a 4 point loss for Penrith, so the times have changed slightly, but whether or not this will be enough, and with three straight losses coming into the game, whilst Philly have had a little more success, having won two of their last six, it still is not that much better and the questions will be raised as to what sort of team will show up on both sides of the ball.

Penrith can take some knowledge into the game that despite the loss, they almost came away with the victory over Compton, and showed glimpses of what they can achieve when the results are there, while Philly seemed to not even be able to get out of first gear, being blanked by Santiago 17-0, their only bright light being 79 yards in the air for tight end John Abston, while quarterback Will Smith managed only 197 total yards and two interceptions, his lowest total since Week 7, while John Decaro, in his return game managed 205 yards and only a single interception, while also avoiding being sacked throughout the game, something the Lions defence has been strong with all season. Penrith were tied for third in the league with an average of 3.1 sacks per game, and only giving up 1.4 sacks this season, both improvements on last season while Philly’s marks were down at 1.9 (made) and 1.6 (against). The Lions also show a marked improvement in the number of interceptions this season, averaging 1.3 per game, which was good enough for 5th in the league, while Philly were at 0.9 per game (good enough for 11th).

Penrith will have to go into this game without David Haskins, who has been ruled out almost instantly with his broken hand, however, reports are circulating that if the Lions do make it through to the divisional weekend, that he will be able to return in some small fashion. There was, however, some good news this week with both defensive tackle Aaron James and cornerback Clifton Massengale both recovering good enough to be able to make shock returns to the defensive side of the ball for the matchup, which does push Thomas Hartley back out, as the Lions have relied more on the likes of Massengale and even Zheng Jiang this season. The other serious concern on the injury front has been with center Ernest Morley who is all but done with the franchise, after dislocating his knee cap in a tackle and will now miss the rest of the season, however long that may be. With him also not being given another contract with the team, that puts a very sad end to the 2026 draft process in which Morley was the only one selected by the team.

Prediction: This one is going to be tough, and I think we are all going to be cheering on the Lions. Let’s go for the victory!

PENRITH, NSW – With the beginning of the new league season, the Penrith Lions have made a series of roster moves to begin building the roster for the upcoming league season.

Following completion of the season, the Lions have waived TE Francis Vaughn, WR Jack Barnes, C James Tucker, C Ernest Morley, C James Mena, LDE Reggie Watts, RDE Gavin Blair and CB Zheng Jiang.

The Lions thank all of these players for their commitment to the organization and wishes them the best moving forward in their careers.

PENRITH, NSW – The Penrith Lions have made the following statement.

The Penrith Lions Football Club and General Manager Todd Carlton have mutually agreed to part ways, concluding his eight-year tenure with the franchise.

The board and Carlton have come to a decision that the demands and future direction of the franchise as well as the requirements and focuses of the role of General Manager have shifted and it is now an appropriate time to make a leadership change in this position.

Moving forward, Majority Owner Leam Mark Farrar will be assuming the role of General Manager whilst continuing in his present role as President of Football Operations. Leam, along with the entire board thanks Todd for his contribution to the club since joining back in 2022 and puts onto the record his hard work, dedication and commitment to the franchise through some very tough years.

"Under Todd's leadership, we have seen this club go from the lowest lows to the highest highs, and we are honored that Todd has been that leader for us. We have built a franchise from the ground up to be where we are today, celebrating a second divisional title and another postseason berth. We could not have achieved that, or anything else in the last eight years without Todd's amazing leadership as General Manager. He was also instrumental in his role following and during the football department review and the long-term planning around those recommendations"

"He has guided us through the years in the wilderness and we are more than proud of the effort that Todd and his own team have put in over the past eight years. Todd and the board share the same vision for where we want this franchise to go, where we want to aim and what we put at the heart of every single decision we make for this club. We also share the view that this is the right moment for us to part ways and to put in place a different leadership model to take the club forward into the next phase"

"We thank Todd for everything that he has done and thank him for his commitment to the club and the contributions that he has made to this franchise and to the Penrith community"

Carlton said he was very appreciative of the opportunity given to him to lead the franchise as General Manager and to play a part in the football department review and where it has led the team since that review was completed and the implementation of the recommendations.

"It has always been a privilege and an honor to serve as General Manager of this amazing franchise. We have seen the results come through over the years, and sometimes they have not been good reading and other times, they are a sight to see, but I am more proud of the franchise that we have built together over these last eight years. To come from nothing to where we are today, that is a remarkable feat and it shows the hard work and dedication that every single person associated with the Penrith Lions has to creating history and creating a franchise that not only can compete out there on the field, but is part of the community in every single way"

“I have had the opportunity to work with some fantastic people, and the members of the club can feel very proud of the commitment and hard work of all the staff and players at the club. It is an organization with a lot of heart, and I want to thank past and present staff and players for all their support.

“The club has an amazing coach in Roy Rodriguez, an amazing coaching staff, an amazing board led by Leam Mark Farrar and an even more amazing group of players, all combined with a settled long-term future and long-term strategy, and I have agreed with the board that it is time for the club to seek a new direction when it comes to the role of General Manager.”